Dear Friends, Visitors/Viewers/Readers,

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After the infamous meltdown in 1986 resulted from a flawed reactor design and poor training, other nuclear reactors at the Chernobyl facility continued to operate until the turn of the century. For the past 18 years, Chernobyl has been nothing but an abandoned wasteland due to the high level of radiation, making the Chernobyl exclusion zone unsuitable for agriculture or forestry. This exclusion zone is a 1000 square mile area around the Chernobyl nuclear plant mostly uninhabited and unused since the 1986 disaster. Since there is already substantial electrical infrastructure in place left over from the nuclear plant and the fact that the land is unused and cheap, the site is an excellent choice for large solar farm(s) to be installed.

“It’s not just another solar power plant…it’s really hard to underestimate the symbolism of this particular project. ” the chief executive of Solar Chernobyl LLC, Evhen Variagin, told reporters at the unveiling of a 1 MW joint project that can power 2,000 homes, on Friday, October 5, 2018, by Ukrainian company Rodina and German company Enerparc AG, costing about $1.2 million (1 million euros) and benefiting from feed-in-tariffs that guarantee a certain price for power. The head of the Chernobyl nuclear plant Valery Seyda said, “It is the first time the site has produced power since 2000, when the nuclear plant was finally shut down. But now we are seeing a new sprout, still small, weak, producing power on this site and this is very joyful.”

Between January and September of this year (2018), more than 500 MW of renewable power capacity is added to Ukraine, more than twice as much as in 2017, according to the Ukrainian government.The head of the Office of the National Investment Council of Ukraine, Yulia Kovaliv, said investors want to reap the benefits from a generous subsidy scheme before parliament is due to vote on scrapping it in July next year. “Investors expect that in the renewable energy sector facilities launched before 2019 will operate on the current beneficial system of green tariffs…that is why investors want to buy ready-to-build projects in order to complete construction before that time.” Yulia Kovaliv told Reuters reporter on the sidelines of a conference in Odessa in September.

Cheap land and sunny skies are attracting interests from around the world. Two Chinese companies, GCL System Integration Technology Co. Ltd. and China National Complete Engineering Corp, are also building a one-gigawatt solar power plant (enough to power 100 million LED bulbs) to the South of Chernobyl. Another dozen smaller investors are also installing solar parks nearby on a smaller scale. These entrepreneurs are not deterred by the challenges of major construction projects in nuclear contamination zone. Engineering work has already begun, but there has not been any public disclosure about safety measures, the completion date, nor a price for the project.

Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker
More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com

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Hurricane Florence was a Category 4 at its peak, at 130 miles per hour (or 210 kilometers per hour) wind two days before making its landfall on September 14, 2018. That was so close to the threshold (140-160 miles per hour) of the design of new solar farms. About a third of the 3,000 megawatts of solar capacity connected to Duke Energy Corp’s system went down initially, according to utility spokesman Randy Wheeless. As of this week, about nine projects in North Carolina remained offline. Four of these were due to damage to Duke Energy facilities and five were due to damage to the project themselves. Wheeless said facilities that suffered the most tended to be five megawatt projects connected to Due’s distribution system.

Duke had been trying to get developers to move toward larger solar projects to connect largely to its transmission system, the high-voltage wires that link Duke plants to the distribution system that delivered power to homes and businesses. With hundreds of solar projects connected to Duke’s grid in North Carolina, the number of damaged projects remained small. Senior vice president at Strata Solar, Brian O’Hara, said that the Chapel-Hill based solar developer with more than 140 projects in the state saw damage at only two facilities. O’Hara said, “Duke has done a commendable job responding quickly and getting our facilities back online shortly after we notified them that they were inspected and ready to reconnect….our teams have coordinated closely with Duke’s recovery team, and it has been professional, responsive and pretty seamless.” The chief operating officer for Durham-based Ecoplexus Inc., John Morrison, said his company also saw very little damage, with only two of the 16 sites operating in North Carolina suffering some broken modules, amounting to less than 0.34% of the the developer’s modules, “not enough to even exceed the insurance deductible.” Spokesman for the California-based Cypress Creek Renewables, Jeff McKay, also reporting no notable damage in its solar fleet. As for Duke itself, its only project that suffered damage was the 60-megawatt Monroe Solar project in Union County, with few panels being damaged by wind. Duke’s Fayetteville, Warswa and Camp Lejeuene solar projects were all undamaged and returned to service as soon as grid operations allowed. Most outages during and after the worst of the hurricane Florence were due to problems with Duke’s grid rather than problems at the projects themselves.

To see what solar had done for North Carolina, check out these videos below:

Video “The birth of a solar farm in Halifax, NC” below:

Video “What’s the future for solar energy in NC” below:

Video “Study shows North Carolina as number 2 for solar electric capacity installed through 2017“: below:

Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker
More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com

Dear Friends, Visitors/Viwers/Readers,

Crowds awaiting for the arrival of solar cars at Adelaide, Australia (presented at www.sunisthefuture.net)

Finish Line at Adelaide, Australia (presented at www.sunisthefuture.net)

Awaiting for the arrival of solar cars at Adelaide, Australia (presented at www.sunisthefuture.net)

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On this gorgeous Oct. 12, 2017, sun drenched day, Victoria Square at Adelaide, Australia, was filled with enthusiastic solar or vehicle advocates, parents, solar car racers/students from 30 countries, and curious audience, awaiting for the first solar vehicles to arrive. Without further ado, allow me to share the excitement of participants and audience of Bridgestone World Solar Challenge 2017 at Adelaide, Australia, below:

Dear Friends, Visitors/Viewers/Readers,

Yes, this is the year to celebrate the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge’s 30th Anniversary in Australia! The event began on Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017, at State Square, in front of the Parliament House of Northern Territory (at 6:00 am-8:30 am, with the first car leaving at 8:30 am) and expect to see the solar car teams arriving at Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga of Adelaide, Australia (between Wednesday, Oct. 11 to Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017). After teams of students from 30 countries designed and built their own solar cars, they have traversed 3,000 km between Darwin and Adelaide in 5-8 days, to meet the challenge of 3 classes of World Solar Challenge of 2017: Challenger Class; Cruiser Class; and Adventure Class.

World Solar Challenge was the brain child of solar pioneer Hans Tholstrup and car racer Larry Perkins. In 1982, they embarked on a quest to drive a home-built solar car The Quiet Achiever across Australia from West to East. Hans also enthusiastically urged others to explore and develop solar transport. So, the World Solar Challenge was born. Inaugurated in 1987 with pioneer sponsor, the South Australian Tourism Commission, the World Solar Challenge continues to showcase the development of advanced automotive technology and promote alternatives to conventional vehicle engines.

Using no more than six square meters of solar panels, bright young minds from different parts of the world are on track in developing efficient solar powered electric vehicles. Every two years, teams from international universities and technical institutes gather with private entrepreneurs at Down Under to promote the knowledge and fact that sun/solar is the future.

Above are photos and videos from World Solar Challenge 2015. Keep in mind that these solar car teams will be arriving tomorrow Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, at Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga, Adelaide, Australia. If you will be near Adelaide, check out Victoria Square for views of many interesting designs of solar cars.

To find out the motivation behind organizing this event, please feel free to view the video of an interview with Event Organizer Chris Selwood in 2013, below:

To find out the updated result for all teams and all classes and to see all the solar cars at World Solar Challenge 2017, please click HERE.

For more on healthy, happy, and sustainable living, please feel free to visit: Windermere Sun, www.WindermereSun.com, an online publication promoting community activities, businesses, and collaborations for healthy, happy, and sustainable living.

Dear Friends, Visitors/Viewers/Readers,

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SEND TESLA (presented at WindermereSun.com)

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Within two weeks after Hurricane Irma swept over St. John (smallest of the three main U.S. Virgin Islands), a survivor used debris from a nearby home to spell out “SEND TESLA“. With significant loss of life, lack of drinking water, dehydration, food scarcity, and disappearing power grid in Puerto Rico, the humanitarian effort by Tesla stepping in to help was truly welcomed. Bloomberg reported that Tesla had been sending hundreds of its Powerwall battery systems to be paired with solar panels to help restore the power back to the battered island. The monumental destruction brought by hurricanes Irma and Maria on the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico in September is opening up the possibilities for companies such as Tesla to move in and establish a presence. Tesla sent representatives to the island to begin signing up survivors for solar services.

Tesla indicated that some of the systems (Tesla Powerwall+Solar Panels) are already in Puerto Rico and others are on their way. Bloomberg also reported, “The company (Tesla) has employees on the ground to install them and is working with local organizations to identify locations.” The Puerto Rico island is still mostly without without power.

Thanks to Tesla for bringing power/electricity back to some of the people of Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.

Mia Farrow’s Twitter further reminds us of the BBC report of 55% of the people in Puerto Rico are without drinking water. Hopefully, President Trump’s visit tomorrow (Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017) to Puerto Rico will bring more attention, help, and water being dropped in by the U.S. National Guard to these Americans at Puerto Rico.

Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker
More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com

The vision of Elon Musk, once a simple sketch in Musk’s blog back in August of 2013, will soon become a reality. At the speed of 760 mph, this high speed mode of transport would allow commuters to travel between Orlando and Miami in 26 minutes or between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 30.15 minutes (twice as fast as commercial air travel). It is truly enabling us to travel at a blink of an eye. As an alternative to boats, aircrafts, automobiles, and trains, Elon Musk’s vision was that of hyperloop transporting people (and cars) via electromagnetically levitated pods/capsules enclosed inside of steel low-pressure tubes. Musk described the design looking like a shotgun with the tube running side by side for most of the journey and closing the loop at either end. The tube is partially evacuated to reduce friction. The capsule or pod carriage rides on a cushion of air forced through multiple openings at the capsule’s bottom (as though capsules are suspended midair by air casters, think of pucks on air hockey table float around ), further reducing friction. The capsules would be propelled (accelerate or decelerate) by linear induction motors (which are magnetic) placed at intervals along the route. These tubes would be mounted on columns 50 to 100 yards apart and the pods or capsules inside would travel up to 760 mph. Finally the hyperloop vehicle itself contains air compressor near the front to intake excess air in the tube and exhaust in the back because excess air would cause resistance and drag that would slow down the vehicle.

Since Elon Musk has made the hyperloop design/technology open source, there had been multiple governments, universities, companies worldwide exploring this concept . Hyperloop One, launched in 2014, previously known as Hyperloop Technologies, is a company in Los Angeles, California, that is working to commercialize the Hyperloop for moving passengers and/or cargo at airline speeds at a fraction of the cost of air travel. The concept of Hyperloop transportation was introduced and named by Elon Musk in August 2013, although he is not directly involved with Hyperloop One. The company has raised $160 million and demonstrated a form of propulsion technology in May 2016 at its test site north of Las Vegas. Its new round of funding on September 21, revealing an additional $85 million received from investors such as DP World, Caspian VC Partners, WTI, and OurCrowd.com. So, in total, Hyperloop One has raised $245 million since its launch in 2014 and is now worth more than $700 million. Hyperloop One has completed a 500m Development Loop (DevLoop) in North Las Vegas and just after midnight on May 12, 2017, the company held its first full-scale Hyperloop test, becoming the first company in the world to test a full-scale Hyperloop. The test combined Hyperloop components including vacuum, propulsion, levitation, sled, control systems, tube, and structures.

Hyperloop One is currently developing passenger and cargo system routes in the United States, Canada, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirates. It is also in early talks with Indian government to build one in India. Its publicly stated goal is to deliver a fully operational Hyperloop system by 2021. Officials with Hyperloop One placed the Florida route on a list of 10 that had cleared an initial proposal review. Each of the cities will now receive resources to help develop feasibility studies for the regions.

“The Hyperloop One Global Challenge started as a call to action for innovators, engineers, trailblazers and dreamers around the world who shared our vision of creating a new mode of transportation,” stated Shervin Pishevar, cofounder and executive chairman of the Hyperloop One group, in an announcement of all of the finalists. Below, is the announcement of Hyperloop One Global Challenge in June of 2016:

Outcome of The Hyperloop One Global Challenge, announced on September 14, 2017:

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What fantastic news for solar enthusiasts, climate scientists, and environmentalists! On Tuesday of this week, Duke Energy of Florida announced a settlement with Florida’s Public Service Commission (PSC), equivalent to other states’ Public Utility Commission (PUC), to stop plans to build a nuclear power plant in western Florida. The utility, with the blessing from PSC, will instead invest $6 billion in solar panels, grid-tied batteries, grid modernization projects, and electric vehicle charging stations. This new investment plan will involve the installation of 700 MW of solar capacity over four year period in the western Florida region.

Duke Energy Florida may not have started building the Levy nuclear power plant, but it did have plans to order two AP1000 reactors from Westinghouse. But now, with the dramatic decrease in cost of solar and increase in battery storage technology, Florida utility concluded that it is much more cost effective to invest in solar rather than nuclear. Last week, Duke told its PSC that it would have to increase rates by more than 8% due to increased fossil fuel (coal and natural gas) costs. But with the new investment plan directing the utility toward solar and storage, that rate hike will be 4.6% instead of 8%.

Even though the preparatory expenditure on Levy are now sunk costs, this new plan will save residential customers future nuclear related rate increases. Customers will see a cost reduction of $2.50 per MWh (megawatt-hour) through the removal of unrecovered Levy Nuclear Project costs, according to the utility. The 700 MW of solar may not cover the 2.2 GW (gigawatt) capacity of the Levy plant, but it does indicate the dramatic shift from nuclear power to more solar power.

The parent company of Duke Energy Florida, Duke Energy, also pulled the plug on another planned nuclear power plant in North Carolina last week, according to GreenTechMedia. With continuing drop in solar cost and improved battery storage technology, it is conceivable that Duke would choose the best option of increasing solar for its customers.

It is a turning point in the history of energy use, when utility and PSC are able to be weaned from nuclear and move onto solar. Thanks to those who have worked tirelessly in researching, developing, and improving battery storage technology. For this is necessary in order for solar to be promoted from intermittent to reliable source of power.

Dear Friends, Visitors/Viewers/Readers,

Below, is a re-post from one of our sister publications, Windermere Sun.

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National Weather Service map with the new purple color to delineate high rainfall levels (presented at WindermereSun.com)

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With water and massive damage of Hurricane Harvey continue to rise, and the death toll from the storm reaching 30, the National Weather Service (NWS) had to add a new color purple to indicate the unprecedented rainfall level that has occurred during the Storm/Hurricane Harvey since its landfall at Rockport, TX, on last Friday. NWS added two purple shades to its map because the old scale topped out at more than 15 inches while the new limit tops at 30 inches. Even though this is the most powerful storm that has hit Texas in more than 50 years and the worst flooding disaster in U.S. history, many experts and meteorologists believe that climate change will continue to fuel massive storms like Hurricane Harvey in the future. As Houston is experiencing its third 500-year flood in 3 years and 25 separate 500-year floods have occurred across the USA since 2010, it is conceivable that this will be our new normal.

Below, you will find an interview by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now and discussion with David Helvarg, Executive Director of Blue Frontier, an ocean conservation organization, on the subject of how climate change is fueling massive storms such as Hurricane Harvey.

David Helvarg comments that these flood zones will become more water logged as the sea level rises at Texas and Louisiana coast, South Florida, etc. The prediction is such that there may be about 3-6 feet or more of sea level rise in the coming decades, with the continuing global warming. The two 10,000 year rain events in two years is becoming the new normal. Despite the Trump administration’s denial of climate change, there are many measures that individual states and cities may take in helping to slow down the climate change: installing more renewables such as solar and wind, transitioning into electric vehicles, reducing food waste and increasing local food productions, recycling, reusing, reducing, etc.

There had been more than 1,200 people who died amid flooding in Bangladesh, Nepal, and India. This year’s monsoon season has brought torrential downpours that have submerged wide swaths of South Asia, destroying tens of thousands of homes, schools, and hospitals and affecting up to 40 million people. Aid organizations are warning that this is one of the worst regional humanitarian crises in years, with millions of people facing severe food shortages and disease caused by polluted flood water. Flood victims in southern Nepal say they have lost everything. Below, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now speaks with Asad Rehman, Executive Director of “War on Want“. Director Rehman has worked on climate change issues for over a decade.

To see what actions Central Floridians in Orlando (esp. Mayor Dyer and his team) have been pursuing in their effort to slow down the climate change, please view our previous post on Florida Climate Summit at Orlando in August, 2017. Perhaps you can also initiate and/or encourage people in your communities to transition into renewables such as solar and wind, electric vehicles, recycle, reuse, reduce food waste and increase local food productions. Our home planet Earth is in need of our help. We need to slow down the climate change in order to prevent millions of people on earth becoming homeless.

Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker
More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com

Dear Friends, Visitors/Viewers/Readers,

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Daniel Kammen, Distinguished Professor of Energy of UC Berkeley and former Science Envoy of U.S. State Department (presented at WindermereSun.com)

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UC Berkeley Distinguished Professor of Energy Daniel Kammen resigns from his post as Science Envoy of the U.S. States Department, citing that he believed it to be President Trump’s failure to denounce white supremacists and neo-nazis and for U.S. to depart from Paris Climate Accord. His letter of resignation spelled out “impeach” by the first letter of each paragraph.

Professor Kammen feels Secretary Tillerson needs to speak truth to power and not cave in to climate denial environment. He further comments that it is utmost important for U.S. to remain competitive economically and politically on world stage by addressing climate change, carbon tax, and renewable energy with distributed stand point.

Did you drive or fly to one of the cities along the route for observing total solar eclipse? Did you avoid the crowd by watching live stream for the event, or were you simply oblivious of the Total Solar Eclipse event today? There were so many people trying to reserve for flights to one of the cities along the route of total solar eclipse above that a coach plane ticket between DFW (Dallas Fort Worth) to Nashville costed $6000 last week. Hotel rooms were quickly running out that all of the hotel rooms along this route were fully booked last week that the last single room was going for $6000 for 4 nights at Oregon State University area. This is the only reason that I am reporting the event from Florida rather than Oregon State University today. The next total solar eclipse in the USA will be on April 8, 2024, only 2422 days away. The next total solar eclipse outside of the USA will be on July 2, 2019, with the path of totality running through South American countries such as Chile and Argentina, according to NASA. If you missed today’s event, perhaps you’ll be interested in one of these two future events.

Historically, some of the total solar eclipses at:

October 22, 2134 B.C.: one of the earliest recorded solar eclipse appeared in Shu Ching, an ancient Chinese book of documents. The ancient Chinese believed that a solar eclipse was the result of a large dragon eating the Sun. It was the job of two royal astronomers Hsi and Ho to predict such events so that people could prepare bows and arrows to fend off the dragon. But Hsi and Ho shirked their duties and got drunk, so they were beheaded by the emperor.

May 28, 585 B.C.: A total solar eclipse brought about an unexpected ceasefire between two warring nations, the Lydians and the Medes, fighting for control of Anatolia (modern day Turkey) for five years, according to ancient Greek historian Herodotus. During the Battle of Halys, aka Battle of the Eclipse, the sky suddenly turned dark as the sun disappeared behind the moon. Interpreting this inexplicable phenomenon as a sign that the gods wanted the conflict to end, the soldiers put down their weapon and negotiated for a truce.

29-32 A.D.: Christian gospels say the sky darkened after the crucifixion of Jesus. It is possible that the event may have coincided with a solar eclipse. Historians have tried to pinpoint the death of Jesus, using astronomical records of solar eclipse in the years 29 C.E. or 32 C.E.

May 5, 840: Louis the Pious, the third son of Charlemagne, inherited a vast empire in what is modern day France after his father died in 814. His reign was marked by dynastic crisis and rivalry between his sons. Being a deeply religious man, Louis became terrified of punishment from God after witnessing a solar eclipse. According to the legend, he died of fright shortly afterward.

May 29, 1919: Sir Arthur Eddington tested Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity during a total solar eclipse. Einstein had theorized that massive objects caused distortions in space and time. Eddington confirmed that starlight bent around the sun by measuring the position of certain stars relative to the eclipse.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon completely covers the Sun’s disk, as seen in this 1999 solar eclipse. Solar prominences can be seen along the limb (in red) as well as extensive coronal filaments.(Photo Attribution: I, Luc Viatour, Presented at: WindermereSun.com)

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How many of you had “observing a Total Solar Eclipse” on your bucket list? It was in totality only within a band across the entire contiguous United States ( covering: Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina). The last time a total solar eclipse was visible across the entire contiguous United States was during the June 8, 1918 eclipse.

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon’s apparent diameter is larger than the Sun’s, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth’s surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometers wide. This eclipse is the 22nd of the 77 members of Saros series 145, which also produced thesolar eclipse of August 11, 1999. Members of this series are increasing in duration. The longest eclipse in this series will occur on June 25, 2522 and last for 7 minutes and 12 seconds.

The total eclipse will have a magnitude of 1.0306 and will be visible from a narrow corridor through the United States. It will be first seen from land in the US shortly after 10:15 a.m. PDT at Oregon’s Pacific coast, and then it will progress eastward through Salem, OR, Casper, WY, Lincoln, NE, Kansas City, Nashville, TN, Columbia, SC, and finally Charleston, SC. Total Solar Eclipse will darken skies all the way from Oregon to South Carolina, along a stretch of land about 70 miles (113 kilometers) wide. People who descend upon this “path of totality” for the big event are in for an unforgettable experience. A partial eclipse will be seen for a greater time period, beginning shortly after 9:00 a.m. PDT along the Pacific Coast of Oregon.

The August 2017 eclipse will be the first with a path of totality crossing the US’s Pacific coast and Atlantic coast since 1918. Also, its path of totality makes landfall exclusively within the United States, making it the first such eclipse since the country’s independence in 1776. (The path of totality of the eclipse of June 13, 1257, was the last to make landfall exclusively on lands currently part of the US.

If you are interested in observing this event (total Solar Eclipse), below, in italics, is excerpt from “Eye Safety During Solar Eclipses” from NASA:

The Sun can be viewed safely with the naked eye only during the few brief seconds or minutes of a total solar eclipse. Partial eclipses, annular eclipses, and the partial phases of total eclipses are never safe to watch without taking special precautions. Even when 99% of the Sun’s surface is obscured during the partial phases of a total eclipse, the remaining photospheric crescent is intensely bright and cannot be viewed safely without eye protection [Chou, 1981; Marsh, 1982]. Do not attempt to observe the partial or annular phases of any eclipse with the naked eye. Failure to use appropriate filtration may result in permanent eye damage or blindness!

Generally, the same equipment, techniques and precautions used to observe the Sun outside of eclipse are required for annular eclipses and the partial phases of total eclipses [Reynolds & Sweetsir, 1995; Pasachoff & Covington, 1993; Pasachoff & Menzel, 1992; Sherrod, 1981]. The safest and most inexpensive of these methods is by projection, in which a pinhole or small opening is used to cast the image of the Sun on a screen placed a half-meter or more beyond the opening. Projected images of the Sun may even be seen on the ground in the small openings created by interlacing fingers, or in the dappled sunlight beneath a leafy tree. Binoculars can also be used to project a magnified image of the Sun on a white card, but you must avoid the temptation of using these instruments for direct viewing.

The Sun can be viewed directly only when using filters specifically designed for this purpose. Such filters usually have a thin layer of aluminum, chromium or silver deposited on their surfaces that attenuates ultraviolet, visible, and infrared energy. One of the most widely available filters for safe solar viewing is a number 14 welder’s glass, available through welding supply outlets. More recently, aluminized mylar has become a popular, inexpensive alternative. Mylar can easily be cut with scissors and adapted to any kind of box or viewing device. A number of sources for solar filters are listed below. No filter is safe to use with any optical device (i.e. – telescope, binoculars, etc.) unless it has been specifically designed for that purpose. Experienced amateur and professional astronomers may also use one or two layers of completely exposed and fully developed black-and-white film, provided the film contains a silver emulsion. Since all developed color films lack silver, they are always unsafe for use in solar viewing.

Unsafe filters include color film, some non-silver black and white film, medical x-ray films with images on them, smoked glass, photographic neutral density filters and polarizing filters. Solar filters designed to thread into eyepieces which are often sold with inexpensive telescopes are also dangerous. They should not be used for viewing the Sun at any time since they often crack from overheating. Do not experiment with other filters unless you are certain that they are safe. Damage to the eyes comes predominantly from invisible infrared wavelengths. The fact that the Sun appears dark in a filter or that you feel no discomfort does not guarantee that your eyes are safe. Avoid all unnecessary risks. Your local planetarium or amateur astronomy club is a good source for additional information.

In spite of these precautions, the total phase (and only the total phase) of an eclipse can and should be viewed without filters. It is crucial that you know when to take off and put back on your glasses; see Eye safety during a total solar eclipse

Two spectacular events signal the boundaries of totality: appearance of the diamond effect and Baily’s beads.

Diamond Ring of the Total Solar Eclipse, last bit of corona ring and last flash of the sun give us the “diamond ring” effect (presented at WindermereSun.com , with the help of NASA)

Diamond Ring: it is a product of the final moments of the pre-totality partial phases and their post-totality resurgence.

Baily’s Beads: Sir Edmund Halley is credited with observing the first Baily’s beads during the eclipse of April 22, 1715. They were also observed by Maclaurin from Edinburgh during the annular eclipse of March 1, 1737 and by Williams from Revolutionary War America on October 27, 1780 from just outside of the totality. But it was Francis Baily’s widely disseminated description of the phenomenon during the annular eclipse of May 15, 1836, that led to their bearing his name thereafter. It was explained by Baily that shortly before second contact of a total eclipse, the opposing horns of the slender crescent sun begin to converge on one another. At the same time, the tenuous solar atmosphere becomes visible against the darkening sky, shining out around the edge of the moon where the sun has already been covered. The combination of this “ring” of light and the single brilliant “diamond” of sunlight where the horns are converging creates a most striking appearance, the diamond ring. The effect lasts for a very short time. Soon the horns of the solar crescent close completely, and the diamond ring begins to break up, to be replaced by an array of brilliant beads of sunlight caused by the sun shining through valleys and depressions on the moon’s leading limb.

Idaho

Wyoming

Casper, Wyoming – The Astronomical League, an alliance of amateur astronomy clubs, will hold its annual Astrocon conference, and there will be other public events, called Wyoming Eclipse Festival 2017.

Georgia

Rabun County, Georgia – Multiple events occur across Rabun County, including the OutASight Total Solar Eclipse Viewing Party with astronomers from Georgia State University. Other events will be held at Tallulah Gorge State Park, Black Rock Mountain State Park, and other locations in the county.

Europe

In northwestern Europe, the eclipse will only be visible as a partial eclipse, in the evening or at sunset. Only Iceland, Ireland and Scotland will see the eclipse from beginning to end; in the rest of the UK, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal, sunset will occur before the end of the eclipse. In Germany, the beginning of the eclipse will be potentially visible just at sunset only in the extreme northwest of the country. In all regions east of the orange line in the map, the eclipse will be invisible.